Autonomous remaining useful life estimation
DC CAFCFirst Claim
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1. A method to evaluate material comprising:
- utilizing at least one computer to operate a material features acquisition system operable to detect a plurality of material features in a material under evaluation, said material features acquisition system comprising of at least one sensor with an output indicative of at least one of said plurality of material features from said material under evaluation;
repeatedly scanning said material under evaluation with said material features acquisition system to produce said output over time;
utilizing said at least one computer to evaluate said output to detect new material features and monitor previously detected material features in said material under evaluation;
programming said at least one computer to utilize said new material features and said previously detected material features to determine at least one degradation mechanism from a plurality of possible degradation mechanisms affecting said material under evaluation, andsaid programming further comprising a calibration step of providing at least one material sample with at least one feature from at least one degradation mechanism and scanning said material sample and adjusting said programming of said at least one computer whereby said determination of said at least one degradation mechanism matches a known degradation mechanism of said material sample.
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Abstract
The equipment comprises at least one computer and a material features acquisition system operable to detect a plurality of material features. The features are then evaluated according to rules that capture the multidiscipline knowledge of experts and are already inputted into the computer. The computer iterations are processed until an acceptable conclusion is made regarding the condition of the material under evaluation, thus alleviating the need for multidiscipline experts to examine and analyze all the material data manually.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method to evaluate material comprising:
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utilizing at least one computer to operate a material features acquisition system operable to detect a plurality of material features in a material under evaluation, said material features acquisition system comprising of at least one sensor with an output indicative of at least one of said plurality of material features from said material under evaluation; repeatedly scanning said material under evaluation with said material features acquisition system to produce said output over time; utilizing said at least one computer to evaluate said output to detect new material features and monitor previously detected material features in said material under evaluation; programming said at least one computer to utilize said new material features and said previously detected material features to determine at least one degradation mechanism from a plurality of possible degradation mechanisms affecting said material under evaluation, and said programming further comprising a calibration step of providing at least one material sample with at least one feature from at least one degradation mechanism and scanning said material sample and adjusting said programming of said at least one computer whereby said determination of said at least one degradation mechanism matches a known degradation mechanism of said material sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method to evaluate material comprising:
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scanning said material and detecting an output of at least one sensor, said output comprising signals indicative of at least one feature from the material under evaluation, in a time-varying electrical form; converting said signals to a digital format producing digital signals; and programming at least one computer to determine at least one degradation mechanism from a plurality of possible degradation mechanisms affecting said material by analyzing said digital signal; said programming further comprising a calibration step of providing at least one material sample with at least one feature from at least one degradation mechanism and scanning said material sample and adjusting said programming of said at least one computer whereby said determination of said at least one degradation mechanism matches a known degradation mechanism of said at least one material sample. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system to evaluate material comprising of:
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at least one computer; a material features acquisition system to scan said material comprising of at least one sensor with an output to detect at least one material feature from a plurality of material features in a material under evaluation; at least one program being executed on said at least one computer to recognize said at least one material feature from said plurality of material features and to compute a material evaluation; a calibration sample with at least one material feature whereby the evaluation outcome of said calibration sample is known and said at least one program being adjusted whereby said computed calibration sample evaluation matches the known evaluation of said calibration sample; and said at least one adjusted program to compute a material evaluation to determine whether said material is fit for use for a service or should be removed from use in said service. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system to evaluate a material, said system comprising of:
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at least one computer; a material features acquisition system comprising of at least one sensor with an output indicative of at least one of a plurality of material features from a material under evaluation; at least one storage for said computer; at least one program being executed on said at least one computer to evaluate said output from said material features acquisition to determine a presence of at least one degradation mechanism from a plurality of possible degradation mechanisms; at least one calibration sample with at least one material feature from at least one degradation mechanism whereby an evaluation outcome of said at least one calibration sample is known; and said program being adjusted whereby said calibration sample evaluation matches the known evaluation of said calibration sample. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification